Make Me Choose You
by PrincessSarahEm
Summary: Casey is torn between going to New York or Queens and finds herself accidentally asking Derek for advice.
1. Chapter 1

Make Me Choose You

Disclaimer: I don't own Dasey or Life With Derek

Casey groaned frustrated, here she was less then a few weeks before classes started at Queens and she still didn't know what to do for the fall. She had been so set on going there earlier in the summer, had been going over class catalogs and even had gotten Derek excited about a few things on campus besides the hockey program or dating sorority girls.

Yet in a blink of an eye, a possibility of achieving her dreams of dancing fell into her lap and suddenly she was torn. She could easily take the job, move to New York with her Dad's help and pursue her dancing career. The thing was she could just as easily go to Queens, study law like planned and pursue...maybe something with ...Derek? Deep down Casey knew he was a factor, more then she wanted to admit because he was her step-brother and going to New York meant saying goodbye to everything she hoped for between them as crazy as it was, let alone what they had become the last four years which she liked to believe most of the time as friends.

Derek would play college hockey, maybe go pro and probably marry some dippy blonde model cause he was shallow like that to her. Yet what Casey did hope for their future was probably far less realistic in her mind, they were step-siblings after all so it wasn't like they could even achieve it and was basically wrong anyway.

The only thing Casey did know at the moment was her room was far to stifling to allow her to think properly so almost on autopilot she left it and found her self barging into Derek's. "Hey Case, you lost?" Derek asked with a smirk as he looked up from a booklet about Queen's hockey stats. Not answering him, Casey sat down at the end of his bed and sighed frustrated as she leaned back on her elbows, staring off at the random posters on Derek's walls. "Lemme guess, still haven't decided on Queens yet?" He asked as he tried to distract himself from the fact she was elongated on part on his bed currently but he was failing because his eyes were tracing her shape. Derek had always loved Casey's dancer body and it was an understatement to say he had only a few fantasy's about running his hands along it. So with her on his bed currently, it was more then just a little distracting.

"I don't know what to do. I mean I have already preregistered for some of my classes at Queen's and it would be incredibly rude to the professors to just drop out of them but then again New York is once in a life time opportunity. I can't guarantee that I am going to get another chance like this." Casey explained a bit dramatically as she looked over at him. "What do you think I should do?" Derek was broken from his little day dream of pinning her down where she was, at that question and looked at her dumbfounded.

"You actually care what I think?" Derek asked confused and a tiny bit sheepish after what he had been imagining. Casey looked back at him just as surprised she had even asked him for his opinion, maybe she was losing her mind from stress or maybe it was the look in his eyes that she caught sight of that did it. Well his eyes and allot more. From the angle she was at, she couldn't help noticing that his shoulders were becoming far more broader and the years of high school hockey had defiantly payed off in the muscle department. Why at that moment she was just noticing that but it was making her mind even more fuzzy. In any case though those things had to be the reason for her sudden moment of insanity of actually asking Derek Venturi for advice on her future. The guy couldn't even decide on what to grab for a snack out of the refrigerator about half the time. "Yeah, I guess I do...I mean I'll take whatever you say into consideration but I am not going to follow it exactly especially if it's extremely stupid, just so you understand that, Derek." Casey added quickly, not sure why she felt she had to clarify that. It's not like Derek was going to take giving her advice seriously, was he?

Was he? Derek didn't know himself, because the truth was, Casey going off to New York was driving him insane too. He just hid better, behind Queens hockey stats and chatter about all the frat parties he was gonna get invited to. Deep down Derek had been devastated when he found Casey had been offered the chance to dance in New York which made him feel like even a bigger jerk then normal because he knew how big of a dream this was for her. The thing was though he saw Queens as time to take a chance and explore whatever he thought going on between them if he could convince Casey to let him. She had to have felt it? It couldn't all be in his mind, right? And wasn't like they'd have their parents around to get in the way and if it didn't work out, no one would be the wiser besides the two of them. Yet all this, Derek knew all bets were off if Casey went to New York without him, she'd probably marry some smart, rich New Yorker who went to ballets and have four keener children, leaving him with "what ifs."

Was this Derek's chance to convince Casey to stay and get her to explore whatever had been building up between them since they met? Maybe but was it right for him to give up her dreams for something which was probably going to mess them up? For the first time in Derek's life, he was actually considering the consequences of his actions and it was weird to him, maybe Casey was rubbing off on him. Derek was usually the kind of guy who just played his life out where ever the cards fell. Then again these cards weren't just his he was playing with now, they were Casey's too and he could really screw up her life if she actually listened to him. This wasn't just about what he wanted but what would be best for her too.

Derek looked up at Casey, catching her eyes and gulped not sure what to say at first "Case.."


	2. Chapter 2

Make Me Choose You: Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Life With Derek

"Case...Look I told you I would never mess with your dream but since you asked what I think, I'm gonna tell you straight out...I think you should go to Queens..." Derek glanced away and mumbled trailing off. "With me..." Casey stared at Derek in surprise for two reasons, one being the fact he actually gave her a real answer and secondly despite Derek's mumble, she was sure she heard him say he wanted her to attend Queens with him. It wasn't like Derek to ever be serious with her let alone so honest, so Casey wasn't just gonna let this go.  
"Why? Why should I give up my chance to dance in New York to go to Queens with you?" Casey asked curiously, testing him further.

Why indeed? Derek could give Casey a billion different crazy lies, from wanting her to cheer him on at his games to needing someone to copy notes from but at that moment, all Derek wanted to do was be honest. Maybe it was because he was feeling extra confident about his chances on getting on the Gaels after studying their stats or maybe it was because he was just sick of the futile love game they themselves had secretly been stuck playing for the last few years.  
In any case he decided that he was laying it all out for her now.  
"Why? Because I want my shot at being with you." Derek blurted out, instantly regretting it when he saw the look of sudden complete shock mixed perhaps fear on Casey's face but he did the best he could to dismiss this because he knew this could be his last chance.  
Derek sat up and leaned in closer to Casey. "Look I'm not stupid, Case, your mom married my dad and while we are stuck in this house, we're step-siblings, but you can't sit there and tell me that you haven't thought bout what it would be like if could go someplace where we weren't." Casey couldn't do anything but stare at him with wide eyes and her heart pounding in her chest so Derek grabbed one of the college's catalogs, dropping it in her lap. "Queens is that place. Nobody would have a clue who we are, we would be just Casey McDonald and Derek Venturi two college kids who are trying to figure out what the hell is going on between them, right? Tell me, you've thought about this." Derek pressed further, hoping he wasn't wrong and hadn't just made the biggest fool of himself for basically confessing his feelings to his step sister.

Casey glanced down at the catalog, the cover displaying a picturesque scene of one of the campus green-spaces, the place that could make their fantasies become reality. Casey could feel Derek's pleading eyes on her and met them as she looked up, blushing slightly. She knew she had to pull herself together and give him answer but she was struggling to comprehend this was actually happening. Part of her was wondering if she should pinch herself to make sure wasn't dreaming this. That this wasn't one of her many dreams that Derek where felt the same and confessed in many different scenarios. But this wasn't a dream this time, Derek had confessed why he wanted her to come with him to Queens so they could possibly be together and was waiting for her answer.  
"Yes I have but...it is too much of a risk, Derek. What happens if turns out to be complete disaster and we end up stuck at the same campus, absolutely hating each other? Or worse what happens if it does work out, what do we tell Mom? George? Lizzie? Edwin? Martie?" Casey questioned him with a honest look in her eyes that stirred further Derek's pounding heart. She had just confirmed all he had hoped for was true. All the fantasies he had of he had of this moment were no longer just that any more, they were revealing themselves as true.

"Give me one year, Case. If I completely screw this up for us, then I'll let you go to New York and will never say anything about it again." Derek begged with a foreign serious look on his face. "And if you don't screw it up, Derek?" She asked as she caught his eye and blushed slightly. "Well then we figure that out then." He said with a chuckle his cheeks pinking as well and Casey glanced away shyly weighing her options a moment.  
"Well I could always contact the dance team and tell to defer my spot for a year so I can re-audition for them in the following year. That way it wouldn't be as rude as completely turning them down after they have been so gracious with me already." She thought outloud a moment and Derek nodded in anticipation. "Okay I'll give you one year to try and romance me, Derek Venturi. Deal?" She held out her hand to him with a smile. "Deal!" Derek said with a grin and shook her hand.

Even though they had shook hands before something about it now felt powerfully charged and it was giving them both butterflies to the point neither wanted to let go. Casey after a minute began to feel embarrassed.  
"You can let go of my hand now, Derek." She said blushing again but Derek just smirked at her. "You let go of mine." He challenged her but didn't let go.  
"I'm serious! Lizzie or Edwin could walk in any minute." Casey exclaimed, getting more flustered but not wanting to be the first to let go of his hand. "Then you better let go." He challenged again, not wanting to be the first either. "Okay on three we both let go. One...two...three." Neither of them let go. "DER-EK!"  
This was going to be one interesting year.


End file.
